Hundreds of thousands of teenagers and young people marched across France this week, blockading hundreds of schools in the biggest youth protest movement in decades to protest inequality in the French education system, decrepit schools, a lack of teachers and large class sizes.
The protests stem largely from deeply disadvantaged areas like Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburban region north-east of Paris. Seventeen-year-old Mohammed, a student at the Lycée Blaise-Cendrars in Sevran, wakes at 6 a.m. daily to care for his younger siblings before enduring two crowded buses and a local train to reach his school. According to reporting by The Guardian, students face crumbling facilities and months without replacement teachers for vital subjects.
“There aren’t enough chairs or desks to go round, so some students have to stand up,” Mohammed told The Guardian. “Classes can be so packed you can’t interact with the teacher. In this year’s heatwaves, it felt like 40 degrees in overcrowded classrooms with no shade or curtains. It was so hot my brain couldn’t function.”
Infrastructure Decay and Severe Resource Gaps in the Banlieues
The daily reality for students in Seine-Saint-Denis starkly contrasts with the wealth of central Paris, despite the area co-hosting the 2024 Olympic Games. Teenagers shared smartphone photographs documenting broken classroom chairs, holes in walls and ceilings, mold, and buckets catching water leaks. Basic hygiene facilities remain compromised, with broken toilets, missing doors, and frequent shortages of toilet paper and soap.
Academic disruption has compounded these physical decay issues. Students reported going months without permanent staff in core subjects right before major examinations like the French baccalaureate. Others noted instances where replacement teachers assigned to English-taught courses could not speak English.
Ilian, another 17-year-old student at the school whose father works as a traffic warden, emphasized the systemic disadvantage his peers face. “We’re starting at an unfair advantage because our parents aren’t as rich as others, they can’t buy us books, they can’t take us to films,” Ilian told The Guardian. He added that despite missing classes during the blockades and risking their exam preparation, students feel compelled to maintain pressure until the government promises action.
Clashes, Police Tactics, and Political Fallout
Rights groups and students reported alarming instances of police brutality, including one child losing the use of an eye and another losing a hand during the unrest. Mohammed described police on horseback charging gathering students and firing tear gas.
Relations between banlieue youth and law enforcement remain profoundly strained. Ilian told The Guardian that police look down on students with cruelty and alleged that officers used racial insults during the protests. Stéphane Troussel, the head of the Seine-Saint-Denis département council, met with pupils and called the situation intolerable, urging police to halt the use of rubber-bullet launchers following the suspension of stun grenades.
| Key Figure / Official | Role / Affiliation | Stance on Protests |
|---|---|---|
| Sébastien Lecornu | French prime minister | Conceded that teenager concerns are “legitimate” |
| Stéphane Troussel | Head of the Seine-Saint-Denis département council | Called policing tactics intolerable; urged halt to rubber-bullet launchers |
| Stéphane Blanchet | Mayor of Sevran | Supported student demands; stated town residents feel “relegated” and forgotten |
| Laurent Nuñez | French interior minister | Defended policing tactics |
Government Response and Unresolved Demands
Local and national leaders have acknowledged the validity of the student outcry. Sevran Mayor Stéphane Blanchet noted that many residents in his town of 52,000 people feel “relegated” and forgotten by the state.
However, teachers’ unions and student organizers remain skeptical, arguing that longer-term plans and more funding were needed. Mental health support remains an issue, with students facing months-long waiting lists for child psychiatrists, missing school nurses, and insufficient support staff for students with disabilities.
Sarah, a 17-year-old student aiming to study at an elite Paris engineering faculty, captured the sentiment of abandonment felt across the banlieue. “We know we’re disadvantaged and that we have to work 10 times as hard as others to escape discrimination against our postcode,” Sarah told The Guardian. “But we can’t learn properly in these conditions when we’re not even guaranteed a chair to sit on in school.”
